I have a choice between two itineraries in late May, weekend departures:

Option #1 is all Japan Airlines
Flight 0061 LAX to NRT, brief stopover, then #0789 to PEK
returning,
Flight 0782 PEK to NRT, with a two-day stopover for sightseeing
Flight 0062 NRT to LAX
Consolidator's total price = $860 (tix, tax, fees, delivery)

Option #2 is all Air China
Flight CA984 LAX to PEK nonstop
returning,
Flight CA983 PEK to LAX nonstop
Expedia's total price = $872 (tix, tax, fees, delivery)

Assuming I am ambivalent between a stopover in Japan vs a direct red-eye flight to Beijing, and my only decision criterion is whether to trust my life and comfort to either Japan Airlines or Air China, which should I chose?

Should I be concerned that a recent CA984 flight accidently taxied off of the runway at LAX and got stuck at LAX until the following evening? (News article said an under-wing landing gear dropped three feet through an area of thin pavement.)